She sat upright, leaning against the back of the front seating for a while until she heard foot steps approaching and saw that man return. He carried in his hand one dead squirrel, and the rifle was strapped across his back. His long brown hair was tied up in a small bun at the base of his neck. He put on a friendly smile as he stepped at the back of the wagon.

“Ms. Allie, are you all right?” He asked, growing concerned seeing her dazed face.

She nodded, to which Noah seemed unconvinced, yet he seemed to let it be as he pulled a small white cloth from under the wagon shelves and lifted up the squirrel for Allie to see.

“I must say, I found myself quite surprised that I managed to catch a squirrel. Usually I merely eat vegetables, it is likely to be the cause of my slender body.”

“…”

He chuckled before noticing Allie’s gloomy expression, and then quickly waved his hand.

“That is not to say that I never hunt! In fact, just five days ago I did!” He lied.

He laughed again awkwardly, making her question what sort of strange person she ended up with, even if she was grateful for his help thus far.

She watched him closely as he wrapped the squirrel in the cloth and left it in the dirt.

Is that really sanitary?

Then she paid close attention as he washed his hands in the nearby pond a few meters away, before returning and taking the horse ear coverings off the horse. Approaching the wagon once again to put them away, and then beamed as he noticed her staring at him.

Seeing his expression, it was easy to forget that he was a stranger. His face was just that friendly. His eyes squinted just a little as he smiled, and his cheeks turned rosy as they pushed upwards. It seemed sincere, easy enough to forget that he was a stranger, someone not to be trusted.

“Ms. Allie, would it be okay now if I check your wound?”

Allie shook her head, wondering if flagging down a merchant yesterday had even been a good idea at all.

“No, perhaps it is fine. I am not hot to the touch.”

She put her hand on her forehead.

“Infections do not always start out with fevers. If it starts to become infected, it will be far simpler to treat if you are only in the early stages… I have witnessed a man lose a hand from infection. It is never a pretty sight.”

He did not mean to scare her, however, he also refused to sit around and do nothing when the possibility of someone losing their leg came to be.

She seemed to grow weary from his words, but nodded, clutching the coat closely to her, as Noah climbed into the wagon with a friendly smile that lifted the corners of his mouth that Allie couldn’t quite understand.

Quickly he had taken off her boot and unraveled the bandages on her left lower leg, revealing the mystery surrounding this young woman. She did not fit into the molds of people he saw on the road. She was strange, as though she did not belong here in the slightest. Her speech and the way of her words sounded much like Noah’s did, she was somewhat partially educated removed from the typical accents south on the island, she was not from here, likely to be from the northern tip near Yuwa or perhaps Panato.

Who she was, and why she was here clouded Noah’s mind. And even he knew it was none of his business, and yet he wondered:

If she is a run away slave or indentured servant, perhaps if I turn her in to the authorities, then my mother will receive proper medical care?

It was a horrid thought seeing the state of her leg, and the corner of her neck, uncovered by the black scarf she had worn that had slipped, showed bruising. It was obvious that she had run away from whichever posting she had been stationed too.